EP REVIEW: Paledusk – PALEHELL

’…another killer release from a band doing it like no one else right now. Paledusk continue to refuse to be pigeonholed into a single genre, style, or approach…’

Fukuoka’s finest musical export Paledusk are back once more. Ahead of the band’s UK tour with Polaris, Silent Planet, and Thornhill – what a line-up! – the band released their latest EP, ‘PALEHELL’, and continue to showcase just why they’re the band everyone in the heavy scene is talking about right now.

‘PALEHELL’ is a thunderous rocking anthem that blows open the whole affair; it’s a surprisingly straightforwards track for Paledusk, yet the band deliver a brilliantly celebratory performance. This energy carries forwards into ‘SUPER PALE HORSE’, which packs a killer feature from CVLTE, set against a monstrously electrifying breakdown segment.

Thankfully, Paledusk still know how to get weird, and the hardcore tinged beat down of ‘TRANQUILO!’ demonstrates it perfectly; clocking in at barely over a minute and twenty seconds long, it’s a bloody marvellous assault on your ears that even packs moments of trippy ambience into its brief, ferocious existence.

Two singles from last year find their way onto this EP, with ‘RUMBLE’ featuring Masato, and ‘I’m ready to die for my friends’ featuring VIGORMAN. ‘RUMBLE’ is by far the heavier and more chaotic of the pair, packing chiptune and saxophones in between soaring melodies, scorching guitar performances, and hardcore breakdowns that will have you raving one moment, and punching a hole in the nearest drywall the next.

However, the highlight remains ‘I’m ready to die for my friends’. The track found its way onto my Top 50 Songs of 2023, and it’s hard not to see why; the anthemic choruses, the brilliant guitar performances that alternate between metal rage and country twanging, the slick feature verse from VIGORMAN, and good lord, a breakdown to end all breakdowns. It’s arguably Paledusk’s finest track to date, and that’s saying a lot given the quality of their discography.

Whilst the ‘Q2’ re-release with a Crossfaith feature unfortunately doesn’t live up to expectations, ultimately the rest of this EP is just another killer release from a band doing it like no one else right now. Paledusk continue to refuse to be pigeonholed into a single genre, style, or approach, and that willingness to experiment, accompanied by the simple fact they are damn good musicians, consistently pays off.

If any band is on the verge of exploding in 2024, it has to be Paledusk.

RATING: 79/100 – Mostly Very Good

For Fans Of: Crossfaith, SiM, Northlane, The Callous Daoboys, Void Of Vision

Physical copies of the EP are available to purchase here.

Follow the band on social media below:

Instagram // Spotify // Twitter